Sunday, December 05, 2004

Solitude - II

Back from dinner at Nandini’s. I don’t know what is it that attracts me to Andhra food. Real tasty.

But the entire experience was spoiled by some jackass screaming his ass off at the waiters.
“Yenri idhu! I have been waiting for 35 mins!”. Looks at his watch, turns out to it is actually 15 mins. Continues yelling..

I hate such people (not as much as I hate cunning hypocrites)…but these people do occupy quite an exalted position in my list. I agree that you are paying money for the food. But does that mean you treat them like servants?!

Treat them like servants: Doesn’t that statement smack of a sick bias? I think it does. Why is it that we treat servants so? I’ve seen people who forbid the servants from entering their homes when a religious function is in progress. I guess the “sanctity” and “purity” of the place would be spoilt beyond repair!

We see parents use sentences such as “If you don’t study, you will be fit only for rearing animals!”. Yet another stereotypical bias. Are the parents trying to imply that the people who are actually rearing animals some kind of losers? A set of people who look longingly at the hotshot bankers trussed up in their choking formal wear, swinging their cases and raking in the money? I doubt it. Just as how a software engineer considers his job noble, a doctor his, a lawyer his, so will the cowherd. It would be a shame if it were otherwise.

I remember this incident that happened almost 2 years ago. Avinash and me were coming back from the Infy parking lot, and I had a flat tyre. We went to this shop opposite Lifestyle. If there is ever an epitome of a person who enjoys his job to the fullest, carries it out with the utmost dedication, it has to be this guy! His name was Shanmugam. He took an hour to set right the tyre tube (other people take 5 mins!). But each minute spent there was worth it. He treats it like his baby. He does it with such precision in his hands and happiness in his face, it makes me worry whether I would ever be so contented with my job! He even has a mechanism where his initials are etched onto the stuck tube!! A genius!!! Avi & me were moved tremendously by him. (Shanmugam master also did his job the entire time holding a cigarette in his left hand – ala Rajni!)

The next time you hear someone saying “Dei, screw the job. You need to go to a bigger company…earn in the millions. Do you want to live like a guy on the street?” just mull over the guy on the street – Shanmugam. I would give up a million dollars and half my life to live like him. I mean it. God Promise! :)

Nazar (a rich industrialist): God Promise I…
Kamal: Why do you drag God into this? Have you ever stood in a queue and worshipped god? You keep the queue waiting outside and get yourself a personal darshan. You commit all your sins, and pour a part of the money into the hundi. And God forgives you? If that is so, such a God isn’t a God at all. He is a coolie – because he also takes money and works!

Another piece of genius from Anbe Sivam. I am sorry, but I keep lapsing into these AnbeSivamisms. No movie has moved me as much as this. And you can see why, from the brief glimpses I have shown. I earnestly request you all to watch this movie atleast once. (I have the original VCD with me and would gladly lend it to any eager soul.)

I am sure a sizeable proportion of my readers fear/rejoice that I have begun to side toward the atheists. Not true. I am still the same old opportunistic religious theist. But that is my private space. It is the tactic of God being thrown out into the open and used as a mass-mobilizing tool that sickens me.
Screw the VHP, BJP, RSS, Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal.
Screw the Islamic fundamental organizations.
Screw the other puerile parties that follow these tactics.

And while we are on the subject of screwing, screw Times of India as well. There was this crack-report in their paper a month back about how gravediggers in Bangalore sell the skulls, bones of the dead. That was the last straw!!!
Don’t we have more pressing issues in this city than to spend ourselves worrying on this grave issue. I would like to add a “no pun intended” but somehow Times overkill of that phrase sickeningly cloys me. I would even appreciate an effort where they rake up issues about people making money out of someone’s loss. But the dead aren’t really going to miss much. Nor are the near ones. So if there are people who do conduct such business, let them do so. They aren’t harming anybody, apart from their conscience. And I think that is punishment enough.
But media coverage?! Not at all!

Introspection exercises seem to bring out incoherence. But I also feel there is an underlying current of commonality in my ramblings.

If not…well…there is nothing much I can do. I listen to the song of my heart and write. If it's bad, blame the water, not the pipe that carries it. :)

I was hoping to end Solitude with this part…but doesn’t seem so.
Hmm…more to come.

I have heard a lot of parents bring out the "If you don't study..", I used to think the way you do. Why I think parents say that is because they are commaring opportunites to what it was during their time, and the only way to make it was by getting a degree, then getting a job. It was quite hard to start something on your own. If you read Infosys's early days, it took them something like 8 months to get a phone connection. The gist of it is parents want to start working on incentives to get their children to study, in this case it is the incentive of not becoming a cowhered which is allegedly unglorious!

With regard to work, since so much off our lives is consumed by work, it should be something interesting, challenging and meaningful, money is just a byproduct. This is not always the case thought, which is why I subscribe to the Sex & Cash theory: http://www.gapingvoid.com/Moveable_Type/archives/000889.html

Speaking of Anbe Sivam, which was a decent movie, did you see the original movie on which it is loosely based on: Planes, trains & Automobiles. That is one hilarious movie.

Hi, I've been reading u r blog for quite some time now. I've enjoyed reading every one of them. Now that you've brought up the topic of doing what one loves to do, I would like to chip in. I know of two people whom I've always admired. one guy was working in Infosys, B'lore and from the start knew that it was not his calling. He never gave up and after almost 3 yrs resigned from Infy and joined the Indian Armed Forces. In the exit interview, he was asked by what percentage was his salary going to be increased in his new appointment in the Navy and he said, -35%! Screw the money :-) there are a hundred ways of making it.